The Douzelage movement was the brainchild of the Granville and Sherborne Twinning Associations in 1989. Delegates of the twelve founder members, one for each European Community member state, met in 1991 in Granville to sign the charter formally bringing Douzelage into existence.
The name is a combination of douze for twelve and jumelage for twinning, and although the number of member states and the number of our member towns has grown in the meantime, as the EU is sticking to its twelve stars, so we are sticking to our douze.

The purpose of Douzelage is simply to foster opportunity and friendship amongst its member towns. Cultural, sporting and educational exchanges between towns lie at the heart of this, as, in the longer term, do commercial and tourism initiatives.
Education has always been one of the most important features of the many events and projects organised by the member towns. Indeed, the possibilities which would be created for furthering the educational aspirations of the member towns was one of the most important considerations when forming the Douzelage.

Twice every year delegates from the member towns meet in a different town by rotation to discuss procedural and constitutional matters, and more particularly to initiate new inter-town projects and be updated on on-going projects. In the spring a parallel education meeting is usually organised, attended by teacher-delegates from each town, which makes a full report to the main meeting.
These symposia are often addressed by the local MEP and town or district dignitaries and provide an excellent forum in which to further all the aims of the movement.

Douzelage is presided over by an international President assisted by two Vice Presidents from different towns all of whom are elected by the delegates for a three-year term. The town Douzelage organisations are organised individually, with some committees being run and funded by the local town council and others being entirely independent in both respects. English is the chosen language for communication within Douzelage internationally, although French is widely used as well.